AB377: Bill Text

AB377,17,18 11.515 Democracy trust fund. (1) The democracy trust fund shall be administered by the state treasurer. The state treasurer shall contract with a debit card issuer to permit eligible candidates and their agents to draw upon the fund through an account with the issuer.

AB377,17,23 (2) Upon a determination of a candidate's eligibility for a public financing benefit as provided for in s. 11.51 (1), the state treasurer shall issue to the eligible candidate a debit card, which shall be known as the fair election debit card, entitling the candidate and agents of the candidate designated by the candidate to draw money from an account to make disbursements on behalf of the candidate.

AB377,18,5 (3) No eligible candidate or agent of an eligible candidate may make any disbursement by any other means other than through the use of the fair election debit card. No such candidate or agent may utilize a fair election debit card to obtain cash, except that cash amounts of $100 or less may be drawn on the fair election debit card and used to make disbursements of no more than $25. A candidate shall maintain records of all such disbursements and shall report such disbursements to the board in accordance with s. 11.506.

AB377,18,8 11.516 Administration. Except as otherwise specifically provided in ss. 11.501 to 11.522, the duties of and authority for administering and enforcing ss. 11.501 to 11.522 are vested in the board.

AB377,18,12 11.517 Penalties; enforcement. (1) If an eligible candidate makes disbursements that exceed the public financing benefit allocated to the candidate for any campaign, the candidate may be required to forfeit not more than 10 times the amount by which the disbursements exceeded the allocation.

AB377,18,15 (2) Any eligible candidate who accepts contributions in excess of any limitation imposed under ss. 11.502 to 11.522 may be required to forfeit not more than 10 times the amount by which the contributions exceed the applicable limitation.

AB377,18,23 (3) If the board finds that there is probable cause to believe that a candidate has made excess disbursements or has accepted excess contributions contrary to sub. (1) or (2), the board shall attempt for a period of not more than 14 days after its finding to correct the matter by informal methods of conference and conciliation and to enter into a settlement and conciliation agreement under s. 5.05 (1) (c) with the person involved. A settlement and conciliation agreement made pursuant to this subsection shall be a matter of public record. Unless violated, a settlement and conciliation agreement is a bar to any civil action under sub. (4).

AB377,19,4 (4) If the board has probable cause to believe that a candidate has made excess disbursements or has accepted excess contributions and the board is unable to correct the matter by informal methods within the time prescribed in sub. (3), the board shall make a public finding of probable cause in the matter. After making a public finding, the board shall bring an action in the circuit court for Dane County to impose a forfeiture under sub. (1) or (2).

AB377,19,11 (5) If an elector believes that a candidate has violated ss. 11.502 to 11.522 and the elector is entitled to vote for or against the candidate in the election in connection with which the violation is alleged to occur, the elector may file a complaint with the board requesting it to take remedial action. If the board refuses to take remedial action or, within 30 days after the filing of such a complaint, fails to take remedial action, the elector may commence a civil action in the appropriate circuit court under sub. (4) requesting the court to impose a forfeiture under sub. (1) or (2).

AB377,19,14 (6) The board and courts shall expedite all proceedings under ss. 11.502 to 11.522 so that all complaints brought prior to an election are resolved, to the extent possible, before the election is held.

AB377,19,18 (7) If a complaint brought under ss. 11.502 to 11.522 is resolved against the complainant and is found to have been brought in bad faith and without reasonable basis therefor, the board or court may assess costs, including reasonable attorney fees, against the complainant.

AB377,19,23 11.518 Prohibited acts. (1) If a candidate or agent of a candidate knowingly accepts more contributions than the candidate is entitled to receive, or makes disbursements exceeding the amount of the public financing benefit received by the candidate, the candidate or agent may be fined not more than $25,000 or imprisoned for not more than 5 years or both.

AB377,20,3 (2) If a candidate who receives a public financing benefit, or an agent of such a candidate, knowingly makes a disbursement by means other than through use of the fair election debit card, except as permitted under s. 11.515 (3), the candidate or agent may be fined not more than $25,000 or imprisoned for not more than 5 years or both.

AB377,20,8 (3) If, in connection with the receipt or disbursement of a public financing benefit for an election campaign, any person knowingly provides false information to the board, or knowingly conceals or withholds information from the board, that person may be fined not more than $25,000 or imprisoned for not more than 5 years or both.

AB377,20,12 11.519 Mass mailings. (1) No person may conduct any mass mailing using state funds on behalf of any person who is a candidate for the office of justice at the spring election during the period between December 1 preceding that election and May 31 following that election.

AB377,20,20 (2) If any person uses state funds to conduct a mass mailing on behalf of any person who is a candidate for the office of justice at the spring election during the period between September 1 and November 30 preceding that election, the board shall immediately credit the accounts of all other eligible candidates for justice on behalf of whom the mailing is conducted with an additional line of credit equal to the cost of printing and mailing of that mass mailing. The additional line of credit may be used solely to fund a mailing promoting the candidacy of the candidate who receives the credit.

AB377,20,24 (3) A candidate for justice at the spring election who plans to use state funds for a mass mailing shall notify the board in writing of his or her intent to do so no later than September 1 preceding the spring election, and shall complete the mailing no later than the following November 30.

AB377,21,6 (4) All mass mailings funded by the state on behalf of any person who is a candidate for justice at the spring election during the period between September 1 and November 30 preceding that election and all mass mailings authorized under sub. (2) shall be issue oriented and nonpolitical, shall not mention any of a candidate's opponents by name and shall be reviewed and approved by the board for compliance with such requirements in advance of the mailing.

AB377,21,10 (5) Except as permitted under sub. (2), no state funds may be used by any incumbent individual holding the office of justice to conduct a mass mailing on behalf of a candidate for that office at the spring election after November 30 preceding that election.

AB377,21,14 11.522 Contributions to noncomplying candidates; attributions. (1) A noncomplying candidate may accept contributions from private sources without limitation, except that no person may make any contribution or contributions to a noncomplying candidate exceeding a total of $1,000 during any campaign.

AB377,21,18 (2) Any electronic or print communication paid for or authorized by a noncomplying candidate shall contain the following sentence: "This communication is paid for with money raised from private sources. This candidate has not agreed to abide by campaign contribution and spending limits."

AB377, s. 18 Section 18. 20.510 (1) (r) of the statutes is created to read:

AB377,21,21 20.510 (1) (r) Democracy trust fund administration. From the democracy trust fund, a sum sufficient for the administration of ss. 11.501 to 11.522.

AB377, s. 19 Section 19. 20.585 (1) (q) of the statutes is created to read:

AB377,21,25 20.585 (1) (q) Democracy trust fund. As a continuing appropriation, from the democracy trust fund, the moneys determined under ss. 11.501 to 11.522 to provide for payments to eligible candidates.

AB377, s. 20 Section 20. 20.585 (1) (r) of the statutes is created to read:

AB377,22,3 20.585 (1) (r) Democracy trust fund administration. From the democracy trust fund, a sum sufficient for the administration of ss. 11.501 to 11.522.

AB377, s. 21 Section 21. 20.855 (4) (bb) of the statutes is created to read:

AB377,22,9 20.855 (4) (bb) Democracy trust fund transfer. A sum sufficient equal to the amounts required to provide lines of credit that candidates qualify to receive from the democracy trust fund, to be transferred from the general fund to the democracy trust fund no later than the time required to make payments of grants under s. 11.51 (2) and (3).

AB377, s. 22 Section 22. 25.17 (1) (cm) of the statutes is created to read:

AB377,22,11 25.17 (1) (cm) Democracy trust fund (s. 25.421);

AB377, s. 23 Section 23. 25.421 of the statutes is created to read:

AB377,22,16 25.421 Democracy trust fund. All moneys appropriated under s. 20.855 (4) (bb) and all moneys deposited in the state treasury under ss. 11.509 and 11.51 (4) constitute the democracy trust fund, to be expended for the purposes of ss. 11.501 to 11.522.

AB377,22,17 (End)